Welcome to interLOST, the blog dedicated to everything related to the TV show LOST. Here you’ll find news, episode previews and reviews, a few teasers, and a whole lot of passion for the best show on TV today!

Hey there everyone! Not sure about the rest of you, but I’m still riding the buzz of the season finale from over a week ago. It still feels like there is much to be interpreted, and of course, we have no idea where the show is going to go after the shocking turn of events in the finale.

But as you all know, next season is the last season of LOST, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep things fresh for all of you during the hiatus. My goal is to come up with at least one intriguing post every month during the show’s break, and hopefully more. We’ll talk about interesting events, where some of the characters have come from and where they may go, and I’m even hoping to try to go to Comic Con this year, and give you a first-hand report of the LOST event. And if you’ve got anything you want me to break down in detail before the last 16 or 17 hours of LOST airs, don’t hesitate to leave a comment! I’d be happy to give you my unique take on things.

In any event, I’ve got something a little different for you in this post. About a month ago, I gave you my top 10 list of unanswered questions. Some of those have actually been answered in some way since the finale aired. But in this post, I want to do something just a slight bit different. I don’t want to ask questions about some of the larger plot threads, like what happened when the bomb went off, or what’s going to happen now that Jacob got stabbed. No, this post is going to be about some of the smaller dangling threads that the writers haven’t yet answered. You know, some of the things that you may have forgotten about with all of the chaos of the finale. And maybe, just maybe, if we pull on them and unearth the answers, they may just tell us something about the larger plot overall. So let’s get to it!

10. Why can’t Ben and Widmore kill each other?

As I asked in my finale recap, did you actually miss Widmore in the finale? Would you have even imagined that the finale wouldn’t include him, and that you wouldn’t have even noticed? But really, he’s been much too prevelant to the storyline both as an Other in the past, and as Ben’s adversary in the present, to be completely absent from the sixth and final season.

But what is he up to? Is he destined not to ever return to the island? And more importantly, what’s the deal with he and Ben not being able to kill each other directly? Is it the island protecting them both? Or is there more to it than that? By any chance is their relationship tied into the relationship of Jacob and Man #2? I’m not going to venture any guesses like I did in the top 10 questions column, but I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing some of your theories in the comments section below. Regardless, I don’t think this thread will be dropped, so keep it in mind as Season 6 unfolds.

9. How did the statue turn into a lone 4-toed remnant?

The statue became a great focus of Season 5, and amazingly, in the finale we discovered that the base of it is actually Jacob’s home. Most of the questions surrounding it now are about what it may or may not be, and what that means with respect to the overall mythology of the show. But what is just as intriguing to me is how it was reduced to a single 4-toed foot. Did it happen when the h-bomb went off? Did the Black Rock fire upon it? (They had lots of TNT, right?) Or is there some other explanation? Regardless of what the answer is, I’m suggesting that you don’t lose track of that point while discussing how much sense it makes for it to be Tawaret.

8. Walt’s dream/vision of Locke

So, how many of you remember this? In the episode, “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”, Locke visits each of his island friends back on the mainland. One of his earlier visits takes him to Walt, who warns him of some impending danger: “I’ve been having dreams about you. You were on the island, wearing a suit, and there are people all around you. They wanted to hurt you, John.”

While I won’t go as far as to say that Walt’s dream will inevitably come to fruition, I will say that you John Locke fans have a little bit more evidence to point to that the Locke we’ve always known will be back somehow in Season 6. Beyond that, maybe we’ll get to see Walt return to the island in Season 6? Just thought I’d remind you of that so you can have it in the back of your mind as things unfold next year.

7. Richard Alpert’s 3rd pre-1977 trip off-island

In the finale, Richard says, “I’ve gone off the island three times, two to visit him.” The interesting thing to note about that statement is that it comes in 1977. Since we can rule out his trip to Mittelos Bioscience to recruit Juliet, we know that we’ve seen both of those trips: once when Locke was still a baby in the hospital, and the other when Alpert gave Locke the Dalai Lama test. While I can’t think of anything that would be of any significance to the overall LOST mythology, it’ll still be interesting to see if we’re shown that third off-island trip, and anything else about Richard’s background.

6. Hurley’s / Jacob’s guitar case

Alright, here’s one I have no clue about whatsoever. Actually, scratch that. I have *almost* no clue about it. What I do know is this: we’ve seen it enough, and Hurley has gone out of his way to keep it with him, that it will absolutely come into play in some fashion in Season 6. Maybe he’ll see Charlie and get to give it to him. Maybe there’s something in it that will help Jacob out. But whatever it is, look out for it next year…I’m sure it’ll play an integral part in a scene somewhere.

5. Why didn’t Sun go back to 1977?

I raised this question as soon as it happened, and have to admit that I almost forgot about it myself. Just in case you’re not sure what I’m talking about, let me give you a quick reminder: when Ajira Flight 316 came into the vicinity of the island, Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid were all flashed off the plane and sent back to 1977. The question is, why not Sun? She was part of the Oceanic 6, she was part of the group that were touched by Jacob…why did she stay in the present? I’m not sure if this will ever get answered, or even if it does, if it will mean anything in the overall mythology. But I’m definitely curious, and it’s something that I’ll be looking out for in Season 6.

4. Jacob’s touches and visits to the LOSTies pasts

OK, here’s where things start to bridge the gap between simple dangling threads and items that more deeply impact the overall mythology of LOST. On top of that, I’m sure this isn’t something that has left your mind since the finale aired. But at the same time, it’s a great specific question to ask, even if we don’t have the answer.

And while we don’t have the answer, I will tell you two things that I definitely think it’s *not*. First, I don’t think it has anything to do with the LOSTies getting on Flight 815. While Jacob did touch many of the LOSTies prior to the flight, he also touched both Sayid and Hurley *afterwards*. So it’s not about targeting them for the flight. Additionally, it’s not about them being targeted for return to 2007 from 1977. Remember, Sun was also touched, and she’s already there. I’m sure there’s something more to it, but I have no clue what it is. If you have any guesses, please leave a comment below!

3. Gunfight on the canoes

Not sure if you all remember this, but earlier in Season 5, when Sawyer & gang were flashing through time, they found a campsite with an Ajira water bottle. They needed transportation to the Orchid, so they took one of the canoes instead of trekking across the island directly. They were then immediately followed by an unknown group, apparently in an attempt to get their canoe back. However, knowing what we now know from the finale, there certainly may be more to it than that. And remember, Sawyer was able to shoot one of them…

There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll see this scene again, this time from the opposite perspective. I can’t wait to see how it plays out with some more information about what went on…

2. Ben’s trip to the Temple / the Temple in general

Despite all of the answers we got throughout Season 5, the most we got about Ben as a youngster was that he was taken to the Temple by Richard. And in fact, we still haven’t seen the actual Temple itself yet. So, the question is, what *did* happen to Ben during that trip? And what the heck goes on at that place anyway? We’re pretty sure it’s tied to “The Sickness” somehow, but rest assured, when we do get to see the Temple, and what goes on in there, it will be a big reveal indeed.

1. What’s up with Claire?

So…have any of you actually forgotten about Aaron’s mom with all of the excitement from this season? While I don’t think any of you would, I certainly couldn’t blame you if you did. She’s flat out disappeared this past season, with only a couple of references regarding her whereabouts.

Remember, back in Season 4, Keamy from the freighter appeared to blow up the house she was living in at The Barracks…while she was in it. Next thing we know, she’s abandoning little baby Aaron, on going off with apparition Christian to Jacob’s cabin (which may or may not actually have been inhabited by Jacob), and pretty much acting about as strange as could be. Since then, she’s been gone, with no physical appearance at all in Season 5.

But two things that happened this season lead me to believe that we’re going to see her in some form in Season 6. First, she’s the whole reason why Kate returned. Kate’s story doesn’t reach its conclusion unless she finds Claire, and I expect that she will. Also, Sun managed to discover Charlie’s DriveShaft ring in the finale, and that story also doesn’t come to its conclusion unless she’s able to pass it along to someone that matters…namely, Claire.

Finally, don’t forget that Desmond had a vision of the future that included Claire getting on a helicopter and leaving the island. While the thought was that the helicopter he was referring to was the one Lapidus came to the island on, that certainly doesn’t have to have been the case. There’s still a chance for his vision to come true, and I expect it will prior to the end of the series.

So that’s my list! I’d love for you guys to comment on any part of it, or to come up with some other topic for me to write about next. Either way, thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you all again soon!

Just in case you’re hitting the site for the first time here, please make sure you check out the recap for the first half of the finale here before reading through this entry. It makes much more sense when it’s read in order. That being said, let’s jump right in to the second hour of the finale!

“Close your eyes, count to 5, and then fix her Jack.”

Not sure about the rest of you, but when this scene was first described to us way back in the first season, I didn’t envision it with Jack’s dad being there, and giving him the suggestion of counting to 5 to get past his fear. To me, it loses a but of its impact knowing that Jack wasn’t his own calming influence, but instead, his father needed to be there in order for him to gain control of his emotions.

Of course, the bigger news of this scene is Jack’s encounter with Jacob. No major change to the pattern here though. Jacob asks a question, comes in physical contact with Jack, and goes about his business. The one thing “missing”, is Jacob encouraging Jack to perform any actions, or to steer him on the right course (as it seems he has done with the other LOSTies). Nope, this time, all Jacob does is say, “I guess it just needed a little push”…

“5 minutes, that’s all…say what I gotta say, then you can do whatever the hell you want to.”

The conversation between Jack and Sawyer is pretty fascinating to me, not for what answers it gives related to the mythology, but more because it shows just how truly confused Jack is. He’s so desperate for a purpose now that he’s simply creating one because the situation feels right. Sawyer thinks Jack wants to set off the bomb to “fix” something that has happened. That certainly would make some measure of sense, assuming it was a big enough problem. But no…that’s not it at all. Jack wants to hit the reset button only because it’s his destiny. He was meant to do it, so he’s going to do it…the “why” doesn’t matter. Of course, when Sawyer calls bull on that line of reasoning, Jack spits back a line that leaves pretty much all of us incredulous: “I had her, but I lost her.”

Whaaaaat? Really? You’re that fired up about detonating a hydrogen bomb that will likely kill everyone…for Kate? Even though you could get her back simply by talking to her and working things out in the present? Honestly, I don’t know what the real reason is for Jack to set off the bomb, and I think he doesn’t know either. In fact, I think that’s the message the writers are trying to send to us. Jack is completely conflicted at this point, and he actually is having a really hard time justifying any of his actions.

And of course, it’s just that complete lack of logic that compels Sawyer to try to resolve the matter with fisticuffs. The battle carries on for several seconds, and is actually more even that I thought it might be. Jack appears to get the upper hand for a second, until Sawyer plays dirty with a kick to the groin and takes control. He’s about to pummel Jack into unconsciousness until amazingly…Juliet flip-flops. Again.

So count this as time number 2. Juliet originally wanted to take the sub out and try to have a real-world life with Sawyer. But, for some reason, she thought she made a mistake and wanted to go back and help stop Jack. Now, she’s thinking that perhaps she goofed again and wants to go ahead and let him erase the past.

“No stupid, they’re getting a divorce”

Two things to note about Juliet’s flashback. First, and probably most obvious, is that it’s the only flashback of the episode that doesn’t include Jacob. Based upon the events of the finale, that’s probably not a very good sign. Second, and perhaps a bit more subtle, is the line delivered by Juliet’s mother. “Just because two people love each other, doesn’t always mean that they’re supposed to be together.” The thought that people are “supposed to” do something makes a very strong implication about fate, something I think is key to this entire episode, and may end up explaining why Jacob was not in this scene.

“If I never meet you, then I never have to lose you.”

Well, at least Juliet’s reasoning makes a ton more sense than Jack’s does. And it’s for that reason that makes Juliet’s demise at the end of the show that much more tragic. But more on that later.

“One wallet, 227 dollars cash, one ball-point pen, one fruit roll-up”

The longest of the Jacob flashbacks belongs to Hurley, and I believe that it’s also the most recent in relative time for all of the LOSTies. In any event, the conversation is almost as if Hurley is getting a visit from a psychiatrist. Almost everything that Jacob says to Hurley is in question form, or a statement that attempts to get him to think about his circumstances. The only solid opinion that Jacob gives to Hurley is that he’s not crazy. And then he leaves with him a choice…he can get on the Ajira flight…or not. Again, he makes physical contact with Hurley, and then leaves…giving Hurley the option to decide what to do next.

“Nothing can save me.”

While on the face of it, it sure seems like Sayid’s comment is about whether or not he’s going to make it to next season, but I think there’s more to it than that. In fact, I think Sayid’s comment is much more about where he is in his own head than about his mortality. Sayid has come to grips with the fact that he has done some horrible things, and has not had the chance to atone for it. He considers himself a “bad” person, and thinks that even if he had the opportunity to change, he wouldn’t. I haved a feeling that Sayid’s going to surprise us all starting in January 2010…

“Only our leader can request an audience with Jacob, and there can only be one leader on the island at a time.”

Regardless of what “John Locke” says, I don’t think these rules are arbitrary. I think there’s a specific reason why Jacob only allows one person to visit him at a time, and it ties in with my general theory of what’s going between he and “John Locke”. I know, I know. You want to know already! That is, if you haven’t already guessed where I’m going with it. But be patient, my big reveal is just around the corner…

“Has it occurred to any of you that your buddy is actually going to cause the thing he says he’s trying to prevent?”

Ah, you’ve got to love Miles. Always trying to lend credence to the Whatever Happened, Happened motto. Well, as most most of you know, I’ve been firmly in that camp from the beginning. So, did the events of the finale cause me to reconsider? How about absolutely, positively, NOT. And in just a bit, I’ll explain how the events of the finale can still fit in to that rationale. (But at the same time, I’ll admit that I could certainly be wrong…)

“Good for you, you got here fast.”

I really love how the writers are able to build a scene to such dramatic tension, and then just let it play out with pretty much zero dialog. Another awesome gunfight, and way cool that the rest of the LOSTies didn’t leave Jack hanging. But the really important point to take out of this is that Juliet (and the other LOSTies) change their mind yet again. This actually marks the third time that Juliet flip-flops in the episode. The rapidly changing events surrounding her really are messing with her convictions, aren’t they?

But I think what I loved the most about this entire scene is the sense of anticipation (or perhaps dread?) that is written all over the LOSTies faces when the bomb falls down the shaft. Maybe it was because I had the very same emotion when Jack dropped the bomb in hopes of detonating it. In any event, it really seemed to capture the moment incredibly well.

Of course, that was just the beginning. The bad-assery jumps to a completely different level after the bomb *doesn’t* detonate. It’s like the end of Season 2 all over again, as the electromagnetic anomaly starts pulling anything and everything electromagnetic into it, causing mass destruction, and at least one gruesome death. And, as you know, it brings about the demise of Juliet. Her character was truly tragic, as all she seemed to want to do was to help others as a doctor and a friend, and in this case, it ends up costing her her life.

But what struck me even more as I watched the scene was how much I finally came to enjoy Elizabeth Mitchell’s acting performance. I think I’ve mentioned this before in a previous entry, but I really didn’t like her character early on. And I found myself contributing that mostly to her acting. But this whole season, she’s been nailing it, and the finale was no different. If this was indeed her last moments on the show, then I’m certainly pretty bummed about it. It felt like she was just now hitting her stride with her character, and now she’s headed elsewhere. If nothing else, she’s got me interested in checking out her role in the new “V” remake. Here’s hoping that she’ll be back in some way during next year’s final season.

“Which one of you is Ricardos?”

Alright, so I should have seen this coming a mile away. Especially since I predicted long ago that “John Locke” was not really John Locke. But I was as stunned as anyone when they opened the crate, and out came John Locke’s dead body, just as it was at the end of last season. No, John Locke has not been resurrected. No John Locke is not the man so in tune with the island. In fact, John Locke has been dead since Ben strangled him just before the Ajira flight left LA. Crazy stuff. But then, as Sun asks, who *is* the man in Jacob’s hangout? Yeah, it’s Man #2, and he’s got a surprise for Jacob, one that he’s been waiting to deliver for a long, long time.

But before I get there, let me just comment on what was in the shadow of the statue. For those of you that haven’t done the translation yet (are there even any of you out there?), Richard says, “He who shall save us all.” Clearly these shadow folk are in Jacob’s camp, and are ready to do battle with Man #2.

“You found your loophole…”

“And you have no idea what I’ve gone through to be here.” Ah, but I think he does, “John”. However, it was a very cool series of events you put into play to make this happen though. So let’s take a little trip down memory lane and see just what you did to get there. First, let’s go all the way back to Season 1.

As far back as the pilot, we have been given hints surrounding the concept of a larger game at work. In the second half of the pilot, Locke teaches the game of backgammon to Walt, and describes it as “two players, two sides. One is light, one is dark.” Marry that scene with the one we got at the beginning of the finale. Jacob is clearly wearing white, while Man #2 is wearing black. Now add the line given by Man #2 to Jacob: “You’re trying to prove me wrong, aren’t you?”

I fully believe that these two are playing a high stakes game of some sort to try to prove that one or the other is correct. Many of you have probably already deduced this. But much of what I’ve seen on this gets into the discussion of good versus evil. Personally, I’m not ready to buy into that, unless perhaps, it’s taken in a less that absolute way. Instead, I actually think it’s a battle of fate versus free will.

About 2 months ago, I told my wife that I thought I had finally figured out what LOST’s endgame was. I thought that Jack would end up detonating the bomb, but simply cause the Incident that he was trying so hard to prevent. And at that point, he would come to believe that nothing he could do would change the course of events for him. He’d give up his free will and believe that he was fated to do whatever actions he would take, and essentially stop trying.

While in principal I still believe that this is going to happen (more on that shortly), I think that the writers are actually going to take it to another level. We’re going to be shown that everything that has gone on in island events has been part of this “game” that Jacob and Man #2 have been playing, with Jacob trying to prove that mankind is not “fated” for anything specific, whereas Man #2 is attempting to prove that mankind is fated to cause their own demise.

The events that we’re shown in Jacob’s flashbacks (and in his final scene) all point to him trying to prove the free will axiom. Sure, he seems to have some supernatural abilities (like reviving Locke and giving agelessness to Richard), but at no time does he force the action. He always gives the people he interacts with the chance to do what they want. He wants to show that everyone had the opportunity to make their own choice, regardless of what that choice is. Kate had a choice to stop stealing, but she does not. Sawyer had a choice to stop writing the letter, but he did not. Jin and Sun had a choice to not take each other for granted, but they did not. Even Ben had a choice to not kill Jacob, but he did not. In fact, in Jacob’s final scene, he almost has a knowledge of what Ben is going to attempt to do. He is the one that walks up to Ben, not the other way around. And he does absolutely nothing to try to stop Ben from stabbing him…in fact, you could almost say that he egged him on.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that all of this is due to Jacob wanting to prove that despite the shortcomings of individuals at times, he believes that they can learn and grow from those choices (“It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”) He believes that free will is the eventual champion, and that mankind is not limited as to what it can become. Man #2, however, is playing the game for fate’s side. He believes that mankind is destined for their own downfall (“They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same.”)

But what are the “rules” of this game? Well, that’s something I don’t think we have enough information on, but I do think that some of them have been shown to us. The first one, for example, seems to be that either of these two can take the place of the dead…but only if they died on the island, or if their corpse was brought to the island. Let me give you some examples.

First, I think that the initial visit of “Christian Shephard” to Jack was actually Jacob using Christian to speak to Jack. In fact, I think that the majority (if not all) of the visits from Christian have been via Jacob, and not Man #2. However, I also believe that Man #2 has this same ability, at least since the ash line was disrupted. Allowing myself to sidetrack for just a moment, let me say that I think that someone (maybe even Jacob himself) managed to keep Man #2 stuck inside the cabin area inside the ash, thus negating his ability to use the powers of the island to do his bidding. But since the ash was broken, he has been able to manipulate the pieces of the island as much as Jacob.

But what I also think is a “rule” of the game is that neither side can kill each other directly. And with Jacob staying in his hangout, and only allowing one leader into his abode at a time (and theoretically one of his choosing), he’d never have to be concerned if someone was going to try to kill him. Thus, Man #2 needed someone to do the dirty work for him. And thus the story of our LOSTies. Man #2 likely granted Locke the ability to walk so that he would perceive the “island” as a mystical place, and be willing to do whatever it asked of him. In fact, it’s highly likely that everything that Locke experienced since he came to the island was to convince him that he should do *whatever* the island asked of him, regardless of what it was…including having to die.

At the same time, Man #2 set a plan in motion to give Locke the leadership of the Others at some point in the future. He showed Locke’s ability to get in tune with the island to all of the people that mattered. Additionally, he allowed Locke to jump through time to meet influential members of the Others so that they would envision a time when Locke would take the reigns.

With both plans in motion, Man #2 hoped that Locke would be seen as the eventual leader of the Others, just as he managed to kill himself and have his dead body transported to the island. This would allow Man #2 to become a doppleganger of Locke (just as he has of many other dead island folk), and march his way right to Jacob unquestioned. Both plans had to be in motion, and both had to come to fruition at nearly the same time for it to work.

But one last piece of the puzzle had to fall into place. He had to be able to bring someone with him, and that someone had to be both a somewhat trusted member of the Others, and also had to be willing and capable of murdering Jacob. Despite Man #2’s ability to get into the Jacob’s dwelling, he still couldn’t kill him directly. Enter Ben, the man who has been manipulated by “the island” his whole life. To me, his tragic tale is not one of circumstance, but rather a devious plot by Man #2. It’s likely that he’s been targeted for this task from the moment he was brought to the Temple by Richard after being shot by Sayid. More than likely, he’s never had a chance.

So that’s my grand theory. The apparitions, the whispers, the smoke monster…I think they’re all able to be used for both sides to try to prove their point and try to “win”. If you think of it that way, then “Locke”‘s disappearance around the smoke monster makes a bit of sense. Man #2 is only able to use one of the tools of the island at any one time. After all, have we ever seen more than one apparition at a time? Have we ever seen an apparition and the smoke monster at the same time? I think the only thing that comes close is when we saw Christian and Claire at the same time…but then again, are we sure that Claire’s dead?

I’d love it if all of you readers took a minute to think it over, and let me know what you think. Feel free to poke any holes in it, as I’m sure there are some things that I’ve missed that may contradict it. But one last thing to keep in mind if my theory happens to be correct: Jacob could very well been simply using the human form we saw as a doppleganger of someone else that is dead on the island. In fact, I would think that it’s quite likely. I would argue that it’s more than possible that Jacob is not dead at all…that Ben simply killed the vessel that he was using. Think about it from this perspective: if Ben unexpectedly decided to kill “John Locke”, would you think that either Man #2 or John Locke would be dead as a result? I wouldn’t.

“C’mon, you son of a bitch!”

Wow, was that a brutal last scene with Juliet, or what? As if her drop into the shaft wasn’t emotional enough, she didn’t end up dying right away? That’s just wrong. But of course, it had to happen that way. Because she has to be there to pound the h-bomb enough times for it to go off. And just so I’m clear on the subject, I do indeed think the bomb went off. But as I stated earlier, I think the “Whatever Happened, Happened” axiom still applies. That bomb was always supposed to go off over the electromagnetic anomaly.

So you may be thinking, how in the heck can that happen without the whole island blowing up? Or, at least, the pocket getting obliterated? Well, here’s my explanation, as crazy as it may sound: The pocket absorbed the energy. Before you laugh too hard, remember that the pocket’s main ability seems to be sucking items into it, like a mini black hole. Granted, the energy from an h-bomb is larger than anything that has come in contact with the pocket before, but think about it this way. If the pocket is large enough that the hole drilled into it is just a pinhole, then perhaps we’ve only seen a very small part of its pull. If perhaps, something blew the lid off the pocket, then maybe its full electromagnetic absorption abilities would be seen…and it would pull in the entire explosion. And then perhaps it would need to release that energy every 108 minutes…just sayin’.

Something else to think about is that we know the Swan location to have some temporal capabilities as well. Desmond initially received his time flashes after he turned the failsafe key in the Swan station. I don’t think that it’s beyond the realm of possibility to think that the h-bomb blast coupling with the anomaly somehow factors into the LOSTies being able to jump forward in time to their rightful place. Of course, I can certainly see how some might think otherwise, and it’s tough for me to argue. But that’s how I think “Whatever Happened, Happened” can make sense, and also tie in with Jacob’s line that “they’re coming”.

So that’s that! I think I covered everything, but if I didn’t, please leave a comment and ask! This is the last off-season, and our last chance to seriously debate what’s going on in the show without having all of the answers! I’d love to spark some discussion that can continue on for the 8 months the show will be on hiatus.

Hi everyone! Thanks for waiting it out and stopping by for my recap. Right off the bat though, I want to let you know that I have a lot to share here, so I’m going to break this thing up into 2, maybe 3 parts. I’ll be sharing part 1 with you today, and spreading the rest out in daily increments. After all, there’s no rush, right? The next season is over 8 months away…

So wow, was that finale amazing, or what? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I was thoroughly impressed with and satisfied by this season’s finale. It’s hard to top Season 3’s excitement and amazing twist at the end, but Season 5’s last episode comes in a very close second.

But what differentiates the two episodes for me is just how much we were given in this one. To me, it’s as if the first 4 seasons and 15 episodes have shown us pieces to a puzzle in various segments, scattered somewhat haphazardly. In the finale, the pieces seemed to move next to their rightful spots in the overall mosaic. The little glimpses here and there have given way to the grand spectacle of what this entire story has been about all along. And amazingly, it started with the very first scene…

“You’re trying to prove me wrong, aren’t you?”

Fascinating first scene of the finale. How many of you expected to get introduced to Jacob so soon? Brilliant set-up though, as we needed to meet these characters right from the beginning of the episode in order to fully understand the magnitude of what happens at the end. I have so much to say about this scene, the discourse between the two characters, and what it all means, but it makes a ton more sense when given some of the events of the finale in retrospect. So I ask you to bear with me as I quickly skip over that first scene until much later in this recap.

The one thing I *do* want to talk about in this scene, however, is the statue. Typically, I’m not one to get deep into the meaning of the hieroglyphics in the show, or to try to decipher what all of the not-so-subtlely dropped literary works mean. But this statue has become a great point of focus of the show in many aspects, so I feel compelled to give my best guess. In any event, this is clearly the best glimpse we’ve had of it so far, but it certainly is not a foregone conclusion as to what it is. However, our new view allows us to mostly eliminate the possibilities of Anubis or Tawaret. In my mind, it narrows the focus down to two choices: one of which is Sobek.

On first glance, the face of the statue (at least as best as we can see it) looks more like a crocodile than anything else. That would seem to indicate that it’s Sobek, who in egyptian mythology is credited with creating the world from out of the water. However, I’m not going to completely rule out Set at this point, who is known as the god of chaos.

I’m certainly no expert in Egyptian mythology, but I believe that either god will make sense in the grand scheme of things. However, the fact that we’re still not 100% sure leaves the door open to also not being 100% sure about exactly what the two characters in the opening scene are up to…something I’ll touch on in greater detail later on.

“You’re not going to steal anymore, are you?”

So, not only do we get to finally get to see Jacob in the very first scene of the finale, but he manages to pop up once again in the scene right back from commerical! Very cool to see him playing an incredibly small role in each of the LOSTies lives, starting here with Kate. The key thing to notice (if you haven’t already) is that he comes in physical contact with each and every one of them. With Kate, he taps her on the nose and tells her to “be good”. What could all of this mean? Well, let’s look at what happens in each of the other encounters before we venture a guess.

“I came to this island to change the world Pierre, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do!”

Interesting words coming from Radzinsky, who we all know (or at least were told) doesn’t survive his time pushing the button in the hatch. But really, when you think about it, he may do exactly what he set out to do, but just didn’t realize it. If Ms. Hawking was correct in stating that Desmond needed to push the button in order to save the world, then Radzinsky drilling into that electromagnetic pocket was indeed an action of great importance.

“I’m this way because of Jacob.”

Interesting dialog here between Richard and “John Locke”. Clearly, “Locke” doesn’t want to give up any of his secrets, even though Richard allows a bit of insight into his. For what reason, we don’t know, but Richard was granted his status and longevity thanks to Jacob. This tells us two things: one, that Jacob indeed has the ability to change the human condition in some way, and two, that he saw Richard as a meaningful or trustworthy enough man to grant him his ageless status. I’m sure we’ll get the rest of that story next season.

But one thing I want to point out here based upon the final events of the episode (and the events leading up to it as well, really): nothing that “John Locke” says can be taken at face value. He’s an even more accomplished liar than Ben, probably because he’s been doing it longer. We simply cannot trust anything said or done by that man since the Ajira flight landed on Hydra Island. Of course, there may be some exceptions. For example, you certainly believed him when he said he wanted to kill Jacob. And when he says he wants to “take care of” the people on the Ajira flight, you know he means business there as well.

“What, you think he’s a candidate?”

Well, I sure hope so. I’d love to see good ol’ Frank get a chance to do something cool to be a part of the proceedings in the final season. The thing I’m most curious about though, is how one gets to be a candidate, and how you go from being a candidate to being part of the team. Let’s hope we get some answers there next season.

“Need a pen, son?”

Two things to notice about this scene: first, this time Jacob goes out of his way to apologize to Sawyer for his loss. It’s the first time that he shows empathy to our characters, and it endears us to him. But be careful about going too far with that feeling, as I think it may lead you to draw some conclusions that may not necessarily be the case. But more on that later.

The other thing to notice is that Jacob is not directly forcing or encouraging any actions. He first asked Kate whether or not she was going to steal anymore, and then follows that up by aksing Sawyer if he needs a pen. While he’s changing circumstances by buying the NKOTB lunchbox and providing a pen, he’s not looking for any specific action from Kate or Sawyer. This is an interesting point to keep in mind.

“I made a choice and I’m sticking to it. I decided to leave, and I’m leaving.”

I didn’t notice this exact line when I first watched the episode, and I find it almost humorous in retrospect. In reality, this is the first of many times that Sawyer and Juliet change their mind about what they want to do. In fact, it’s an incredibly overwhelming theme throughout the entire episode. And I think that it actually goes even further than that. But rather than spoil myself so soon, let me just make sure you notice: Sawyer and Juliet have changed their mind in the episode for the first time about one-sixth of the way through the episode. I’ll kep track of the rest of them as we go.

“I’ve gone off the island 3 times since then, 2 to see him…”

Alright, so we’ve seen the 2 times Richard’s left the island to visit Locke. Once immediately after he was born in the hospital. And then again to give him the “Dalai Lama” test to see if he was ready to be the leader of the Others. Richard’s third trip off-island is still unknown, but keep that in the back of your mind as we go into the final season. I’m sure it’ll end up being important.

One other really key thing to notice in this scene that could have possibly gone unnoticed…Richard says to Jack, “He (referring to Locke) never seemed particularly special to me.” Jack retorts, “If I were you, I wouldn’t give up on him.” Really, you could see this in one of two ways: First, you could buy into what Richard is saying, and couple it with the end of the episode. Locke was never special…he was never going to be the leader of the Others. He’s dead, never was resurrected, and an apparently evil force has become his doppleganger in an attempt to follow through with a plan for murder.

But for you Locke fans, let me give you a ray of hope. The story of LOST is as much Jack’s as anyone else’s, and if he says that we shouldn’t give up on him, then we just might get ourselves a surprise next season. There’s also a very interesting scene later in the episode that might show a feasible way for Locke to be Locke again, but I’ll touch on that a little later on.

By the way, let me just say that nothing that has happened in these last few episodes that has tempered how fascinated I am with the Richard Alpert character. Based upon the events in the last few scenes, as well as everything about Richard that has led up to the finale, I *really* hope that Nestor Carbonell gets picked up as a regular for the final season, and that we get to see him in every episode. I love his understated delivery and the way he gives his character an enigmatic sense. Please bring him back full-time next year Team Darlton!

“I started thinking differently about things when my dead daughter threatened to destroy me if I didn’t do everything you said.”

Huge, huge, huge piece of information here in just a little bit of dialog. Ben shares his experience with “Locke”, but “Locke” seems truly puzzled by the encounter. Normally, we might second-guess the trustworthiness of Ben, but we saw it happen, so we know it’s true. Again, I feel as though there are 2 distinct possibilities for this response. First, “Locke” could still be playing with Ben. Ben doesn’t know that Locke is “Locke”, (neither do we at this point), so it’s certainly possible that he’s just playing along. “Oh yeah, I didn’t know that…tell me all about your encounter with the Smoke Monster”…wink, wink…nudge, nudge. That could certainly be it.

However, there is another option. “Locke” could actually be surprised by Ben’s info. What would that mean? Well, for starters, it would mean that he’s NOT the smoke monster incarnate. That his disappearance when Ben met Smokey was either coincidence (doubt it), or has more to it than just “Locke is the Smoke Monster”. And I’m led to think that’s exactly the case. And more than that, I have a theory as to why. But as you might expect, I’m not quite ready to share that with you yet. Let me give you a few more pieces before I spell it out for you directly a bit later on.

“I’m sorry, I think I’m lost…are you from Los Angeles?”

Although it’s probably the most disturbing Jacob flashback, I found it to be the most interesting. Let me explain why with a question: what did you think when you first saw the scene with Sayid and Nadia? I ask because when I first saw it, I interpreted it as Jacob saving Sayid from the murder attempt he knew was coming. But surprisingly, at my LOST party (thanks again to everyone who came up, it was a blast!), there were folks that immediately interpreted it as Jacob killing Nadia. So why do I find that so fascinating? Because it’s that very uncertainty that helps to further my theory on what’s going on between Jacob and Man #2/”John Locke”. Just to reinforce things, note that Jacob again comes in physical contact with Sayid, but again asks a question of him, and does not try to elicit a specific action from him. Sorry to keep stringing you along on what my grand theory is, but I’m building a case here, and I want to show you all of the evidence first. I promise I’ll spell it out at the end.

“It’s one of the Dharma houses. I’ll go first.”

Well now, Dharmaville is just the hub of all things supernatural now, isn’t it? While we knew that the Smoke Monster summoner was right under the Barracks, I didn’t think that The Tunnels were as well. While we’re on the subject, note that despite all of the revelations we got in this episode, we never did see the Temple proper. I’m sure we’re still in for a pretty big surprise when that place finally gets revealed…

“You’re the son of a bitch who shot my kid!”

Just when it looks like Sayid & Jack are going to make their escape, Ben’s dad Roger has to come out and spoil everything. And he doesn’t waste any time either, getting a solid shot into Sayid’s gut. Amazingly, Jack goes absolutely bonkers. The only man Jack has shown to have killed in the entire run of the show was way back when he put the FBI marshall Edward Mars out of his misery. And obviously, that could be argued as an attempt to “fix” something. In any event, Jack throws caution to the wind after Sayid is show, firing on pretty much anything moving so that he can escape with his precious cargo. In a way, you almost feel as though he’s more pissed about the chance that his h-bomb is going to get shot than he is about Sayid taking a bullet. Regardless, he buys them both enough time to be rescued by Hurley, Miles, and Jin.

“I got no idea where the hell we are…”

As if it wasn’t enough to get so many of the answers we really wanted in this episode, we also get some of the answers that were a little further down our list. Yep, it was nice to get to see Vincent again, and Rose and Bernard provided some great comic relief to an otherwise tension-filled episode. On top of that, I expect that the writers are giving us a bit of foreshadowing with Bernard’s line, “So we die…we just care about being togther. That’s all that matters in the end.” I don’t imagine we’ll see a whole lot more of those two next season…until we learn that they’re Adam and Eve in the caves.

“We need to show it to somebody…so they’ll know who they’re up against.”

At the time, this line seemed incredibly cryptic. But after seeing Locke in the box, we know now that the “Shadow people” are indeed trying to help out the Others in the upcoming war. We’ve pretty much determined the fact now that there are only two sides, and not multiple factions, and that the whole Ben vs. Widmore thing had almost nothing to do with the real battle at hand. In fact, did you even miss Widmore in this episode? If I had mentioned to you prior to the finale that he wouldn’t be in it and that you wouldn’t care, would you have believed me?

One other thing about “sides”…Frank notes that the folks who go out of their way to tell you that they’re the good guys are often the bad guys…after the events in the episode, it’s important to keep that in mind.

“Will you help me Ilana?”

This is the only flashback of the episode not to one of our LOSTies, but instead to someone we just met this season. Additionally, this is the only person that he directly asks for help from, and isn’t explicit in giving them a choice. In the end, however, it still is a question he asks, despite how much it appears he needs her help. Finally, one last thing to notice is that he doesn’t make physical contact with her. My initial guess on why is because he doesn’t need to…

“Look at the ash!”

The visit to Jacob’s old cabin was quite fascinating. The place is in complete disarray…perhaps from when John dropped the lamp way back in Season 3? Something tells me that it’s more than that. What’s even more interesting is that Ilana is able to determine that Jacob hasn’t been there in awhile, and that someone else has “been using” the cabin. Two really important things to take out of that. One, and probably most obviously, is that the entity that we thought we were introduced to way back in Season 3…the one we thought was Jacob…was not Jacob at all. The most obvious choice as to who it really was is “John Locke”. That could also go a long way towards explaining the break in the ash. But I’ll expand on that further a bit later.

The other thing to note, however, is almost lost when you have that “wow” moment of realizing we’ve never met Jacob before now. But it’s important to process. And that’s the idea that the cabin is being used. And I don’t necessarily mean as a home. The fact that Ilana and her people burn the cabin is a testament to the idea that the cabin is in fact some sort of tool to be wielded with purpose. But what for? I’ll get to that later as well.

“I guess we know where we’re goin’…”

The cloth that Ilana pulls from the cabin gives us all a pretty good idea of where they’re going, and in fact, appears to show us a bit more of the statue. Sure looks like Sobek there, doesn’t it?

“Don’t worry, everything’s gonna be alright.”

While this is the shortest and apparently least informative of the Jacob flashbacks, it doesn tell me one thing: Jacob has some measure of healing power. We know that he can make Richard ageless, and he appears to revive Locke from his fall. The question is, did he simply revive him from unconsciousness, or could it be that he was actually dead and Jacob brought him back to life? More importantly, think about this in terms of what happened at the end of the episode. Is there still a chance for the Locke we know to return?

“Locke” plants the seed

Before I get into the details of the conversation, I think it’s important to note something about “Locke”‘s memory. He clearly can recall his time in the hatch with Ben, even though we know that’s not the real Locke. So his ability is not specifically confined to possession…there is clearly something more going on.

But really, the best part of the scene is “Locke”‘s dead-on recap of Ben’s woes, and all of the horrible things that have happened to him. As I discussed in an earlier post when recapping young Ben getting shot, the character of Benjamin Linus is a tragic one indeed. And if this conversation has been carefully constructed through pureposeful previous actions, then it becomes even more sad than ever. Ben’s been dealt a bad hand, and “John Locke” is happy to help him stand back and realize it. My question to you might be…do you think “Locke” had anything to do with actually dealing it?

Sun finds Charlie’s ring

Wow, this was a really cool part of the episode. It would have been easy to think that it was lost forever, but I’m glad that won’t be the case. Now, when Sun meets up with Claire next season, she can pass it on…

Jacob finally makes a request

In Sun’s flashback (with Jin), Jacob finally makes a request of our LOSTies, and that’s for Jin and Sun to never take their love for granted. Which, of course, we know they do. If you’re following closely, a pattern is starting to emerge. First, Jacob recommends that Kate avoids stealing, which she doesn’t. Then, he provides a pen to Sawyer to write his note, even though his relative suggests otherwise. Now, he’s asking Jin & Sun to cherish each other, which they fail to do. Coincidence? I’ll give you my take later.

And that pretty much ends the first half of the episode! The bomb’s trip to the Swan gets a little side-tracked thanks to Sawyer, Juliet, and Kate, but I’ll get into the details of that in my next post. This one is already about 50% larger than my usual entries, so I want to stop things here for now. I’ll be back tomorrow with my analysis of the second half of the show, and more importantly, what I think it all means, and what we can expect in the show’s final season.

Alright, so I said I wouldn’t be around until Saturday, and the truth is, I won’t be able to do the finale justice until then. But I just wanted to drop in here and leave a post letting you all know that I when I do post on the finale, I promise that it will be massive. We were given so many pieces to the puzzle yesterday, and I want to address each and every one of them, and in great detail. I may even break the post up into segments because I know that I’ve got a lot to say.

There’s been a ton of buzz around the web for this episode (and rightly so), so I’m sure you can get a good fix from other places like Dark UFO or ew.com. But rest asured that I’ll give you my unique take on things, and perhaps have a few things that the other folks either glossed over or chose not to discuss directly. I hope that it’ll be worth the wait.

In the meantime, feel free to use the comments space below to either leave your impressions of the episode, or to give me a “hot topic” from the finale that you want to make sure I touch on. I promise to integrate anything you leave for me into the recap on Saturday.

I hope you enjoyed the episode as much as I did, and I hope you come back in a couple of days so I can share my thoughts with you. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy LOST day everyone! Or should I say, happy LOST finale day! I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have a feeling that the finale tonight is going to rival Season 3’s finale in terms of jaw-dropping excitement and “wow” factor at the end. Expectations are definitely high, as this is the last cliffhanger LOST will ever deal to us.

On a related note, I’ve been avoiding my typical LOST hangouts so as to avoid getting spoiled. As many of you know, I was one of the many that got burned by LostFan108’s post of Season 3’s spoiler in plain sight over on another site. Since then, I’ve been avoiding any type of forum about LOST during the final few weeks of the season. So far, I’ve managed to stay spoiler-free, which makes me even more excited for tonight’s show.

However, it also gives me just about nothing to go on for the final challenge of the week of the season. So, I’m just going to go off the episode description and give you this:

What difficult task does Locke assign to Ben, and is he able to execute it?

Thanks to all you for continuing to stop by, I appreciate it! Enjoy the episode tonight, and I hope all of you that want to stay spoiler-free manage to do so!

One quick housekeeping note before I sign off…I’m going to be a little busy Thursday and Friday this week, so for those of you that wait with bated breath for my recap (all 2 of you!), it’ll be out just a little later than usual this week…probably later in the day on Saturday. See you then!

Can you believe that we’re down to one more week of LOST this season? It’s always such a bittersweet feeling…the best episodes seem to come (by design, actually) at the end of the season, so there’s always so much to look forward to. But at the same time, we know we’re just 2 hours away from 8 full months of hiatus before the next season. I know that I should just focus on the episodes at hand and enjoy them, but the cloud of 40+ weeks without the show always tempers my excitement.

In any event, there were some really interesting and cool moments in this season’s second-to-last episode, “Follow The Leader”, so let’s get to it!

“Follow The Leader”

Alright, is it me, or was this the first episode in a long time that wasn’t focused on a specific character? In fact, I think the episode’s title told us who we’d be “following” through the course of the night’s show: all 3 LOST “leaders”, namely Jack, Sawyer, and Locke. Of course, I didn’t mind it at all. In fact, I’m glad that the writers don’t feel as though they need to pigeon-hole themselves into sticking with a specific character at this juncture of the story. There are less than 20 hours remaining to wrap up this grand tale, and any route they need to take to get us there with the most answers is alright with me.

“Just who the bloody hell might you be?”

Bloody is right! Wow, was it me, or did we see a little bit more bloodflow than usual in this episode? I’m not sure what the point was in showing Jack, Sawyer, and even Juliet get beaten and bloodied, but there it was for us to see. Perhaps the writers were trying to hammer home the point as to why these 3 were so desperate to do the things they did, and turn their respective backs on their friends…which is exactly what all 3 of them ended up doing.

“I remember these people…I remember meeting them very clearly, because…I watched them all die.”

Now far be it from me to call Richard a liar, especially since he seems to have done nothing but tell the truth all of the times we’ve seen him. But at the same time, I’m not taking what he’s saying at face value for even a second. I won’t go as far as to say that all of the LOSTies stuck in 1977 make it back to the present alive and intact, but I will suggest that perhaps Richard misinterpreted what his eyes showed to him. No, I have no proof of this, only a hunch. I guess we’ll get a much better idea in the finale…

“Still have that compass I gave you?”

OK, now here’s where things might get a little tricky, but let me try to explain what I think is the first real time paradox created by the show. The first thing to do is to try to go back as far in the timeline as possible for when we know that compass existed. If I remember correctly, it was given to Richard by Locke, back in 1954. It appears as though Richard holds on to this compass for the next 53 years, using it at least once to show to Locke as a youngster as part of the Dalai Lama test to see if he was “ready”. But, after 53 years of holding on to it, he gives it back to the Locke jumping through time in 2007. Locke has that same compass just as he jumps back through time to 1954…where he gives it back to Richard again, so it can loop through time once more. The reason why this is a paradox is because the compass seems to have found itself in a closed time loop…there is seemingly no beginning to it (or when it was created), nor any end to its existence…it always cycles through the same 53 years, ad infinitum. It also makes it darn near impossible to tell just how old that compass is. How many times has it gone through the loop when we see it in this iteration? It’s actually quite fascinating to me, and I can’t apply any form of logic that allows me to understand how it originally got into the loop, and how it might ever get out.

Up to this point in the show, we’ve never had any closed loop scenarios like this. In every specific instance of a person jumping through time, they’ve still had a linear experience. For example, Jack’s experiences in 1977 are his “present”…he’s just now experiencing them, even though he’s 30 years in the past. He’s never experienced these happenings before, and he never will again…there is no loop. But for the compass, the story is different. It *is* going through the same events over and over. Its past is its future, and vice versa.

So why I am spending so much time trying to explain this to you? Well, other than the “cool” factor, I think it’s important to expand this line of thought out to 2 other situations. First, is it possible that Faraday’s notebook could be experiencing that same type of loop? Could it be that Eloise gave Faraday a book that already contained everything he wrote in it? Could this be how he knew so much about the island? It certainly appears to be why Eloise had so much future knowledge. And it would also explain why she now feels as though she’s in the dark (as she mentioned last episode). The book only told her of events up to 2007, because that’s the furthest forward anyone was before they were zapped back in time to provide info for the book. If Eloise had used that notebook as a guide to the future (as it appears she has), then the story suddenly stops in 2007, and she no longer can tell what’s happening next.

One other thing to think about that may be related to the time paradox is Jacob. We all know that he said, “help me” to Locke back in Season 3. But what for? I had always thought that *perhaps* he was stuck in time. Of course, that theory never made any kind of sense whatsoever. But now, having seen evidence of a closed loop time paradox with the compass, perhaps it’s possible that Jacob also found himself stuck in something very similar. I’ll leave the “how” of that type of scenario up to others to dream up, but I think it’s now at least reasonably feasible to think that the reason why Jacob asks for Locke’s help is so that he can get himself unstuck in a time loop. At least, it seems as likely as any other idea, considering how very little we know about Jacob.

“If we can do what Faraday said, our plane never crashes.”

Alright, so it’s real easy to trust Faraday right now. He seems to have a good grasp of what’s happening on the island, right down to the second (see last week’s episode when he knew when Dr. Chang would pull up in the Dharma van). But shouldn’t Jack be at least somewhat leery of trying to break the “Whatever Happened, Happened” axiom? He’s seen first-hand how trying to prevent something (not operating on Ben so as to let him die) ended up causing exactly what he was trying to avoid? I know they keep referring to the electromagnetic energy around the Swan station a “pocket”, but does not even occur to he or Kate that by detonating the h-bomb, they could be causing the very incident that requires the Swan station to be built? And that forces Desmond to push the button every 108 minutes? And that eventually causes Flight 815 to crash on the island? How ironic would it be that Jack indirectly causes his own plane to crash?

“All the misery that we’ve been through…would just wipe it clean…never happened”

Well, now that we’ve talked time travel to death in just the first few segments, let me quickly expound on what Jack says here. It actually speaks volumes about wher Jack is, and how very different Kate feels in comparison. Amazingly, Jack does not feel that any of what the folks on the island have endured is worth it. Jack wants to, and maybe always has wanted to, hit the reset button. If only we could never have landed here, maybe Shannon, Boone, Eko, Ana Lucia, Charlie…they all would still be alive. In a way, that’s not such a horrible thought. And it fits in with the old Jack really, really well. He has the chance now to pull off the ultimate “fix”…he can bring back all of the people that died, and undo all of the pain.

But Kate’s view seems to be a polar opposite. Although there’s been pain and death, it’s almost always been surrounded by growth and improvement. Do we really want Charlie to go back to being an addict? Do we want Locke back in his wheelchair? Do we want Kate on the run from the law again? There is always pain to go through when things change. But does that mean we’d rather not change at all? Does it mean that we’d rather stay stagnant so as to avoid difficult situations or even death? It’s an interesting dilemma, but Jack and Kate clearly have their minds made up as to which sides of the debate they’re on.

Radzinsky brings the beatdown

Not much insight to provide on this scene, except to state the obvious that Radzinsky is one major jerk of a guy. It’s funny; not too long ago we were commenting on how Dr. Chang needed to take a chill pill. But Radzinsky? Somebody definitely needs to bring that guy down a peg or two…

“We gotta do something…I mean, Sawyer would never leave us behind.”

Wow, how much more wrong could Hurley be? One thing that seemed to be pretty consistent in this episode is that we got to see everyone’s true colors. Jack wants to push the reset button at any cost, Kate seems to be genuinely interested in her friends, Hurley wants to do the right thing, and Sawyer is once again willing to sell out in order to keep things together with Juliet. Not unlike what happened with Sayid earlier this season, Sawyer is more than willing to put one or more of friends in peril in order to keep things together with Juliet. And of course, the very friend he’s ready to throw under the bus is the same one that is doing everything to save him. While Jack is in clear desperation mode, Sawyer’s activities could be seen as marginally worse…because his actions do not appear to have the greater good in mind (even if it appears misguided). No, Sawyer is out to keep himself happy, even if it means turning his back on people he used to call his friends.

“This must be quite the out-of-body experience.”

“Something like that…” Yeah, something like that indeed. While it’s hard to figure out exactly what’s going on here with the 2007 John Locke, he’s clearly not the same person as the 2004 John Locke that jumped into this time period. I’m convinced that the “out-of-body experience” going on has everything to do with Locke not being in control of his body in 2007, but rather that someone else is pulling the strings. Everything about Locke’s conversation in this scene, from his revelation to Ben that the island talks to him, to his questioning of how Alpert’s conversation went, to his claim that he *did* have to die all point to him not being who he says he is. It’s almost as if Locke’s body has returned, but his soul has ben replaced with someone else somehow…

Head fake!

So…I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve been anticipating a major death for awhile now, as rumors have been rampant that someone would be biting the bullet before the end of the season. When Kate started to head back to Dharmaville, I said aloud, “they’re not going to kill Kate, are they?” Of course, I had envisioned that it might be when she ran into an armed and crazy Radzinsky. But instead, mere seconds after I mentioned it, gunshots were fired, and Kate looked down…to find that she was saved by Sayid. Huge head fake, and I completely fell for it! Excellent job on that one, and even better, I’m glad that we’ve got Sayid back for the finale.

“Tell me how we’re gonna get a bomb outta here?”

“The same way we brought it in.” Of course, Richard doesn’t get to finish the answer, other than to explain that it’s not through the pool. Does anyone think that perhaps “The Tunnels” are somehow attached to “The Temple”, and that they’re going to trudge the bomb through there? Well, I can at least hope, can’t I?

“The real world…I don’t even know what that means anymore.”

Of course, just when you think that Sawyer and Juliet might just take the sub, get off the island, and have their happily ever after, Kate manages to find her way on the sub. The thing I find most interesting about it all though, is Juliet’s look at Sawyer after the initial “awkward” moment ends. Is she really not trusting of Sawyer at this point? He’s twice chosen her over his friends, and he’s done everything to prove that he wants nothing more than to be with her at any cost. I find it odd that she seems to still be questioning whether or not he wants to be with her. Unless, of course, she thinks that “fate” is playing a larger role in events than she’s like…

“So I can kill him.”

Whhaaaaaaaat? Seriously, that’s what ran through my head when I heard that line. Now, not only do I believe that the Locke we’re currently seeing is not the Locke that we’ve come to know, but in fact, something much larger than we’ve been led to believe is at work here. Things are so very much not as they seem that I’m almost at a loss to even try to predict what the finale is going to be about. Here’s one thing I’m starting to reconsider though. I’ve never been a subscriber to the idea that the Smoke Monster was able to take human form. Many have speculated that the smoke monster and the apparitions are one in the same, but I’ve never really believed it. But I tell you what…with John’s recent activity coupled with his strange disappearances both Ben tried to summon the monster and when he finally encountered it…I would not at all be surprised if Locke morphed into the Smoke Monster in the finale.

Irrespective of that, you have to wonder, why would he want to kill Jacob? That line really seems to make no sense at all, whether Locke is Locke, or if he’s an incarnation of the smoke monster or something else. He’s in tune with the island, and Jacob is the supposed voice of the island, isn’t he? I’m sure we’ve intentionally been left in the dark, without enough clues to answer this, but it would be nice to have at least a reasonable, feasible guess. But I’m sorry to say, I simply don’t have one. I’m pretty darned excited to see how it plays out though!

Post-episode questions:

Is Jack really going to detonate the h-bomb? If he does, will it have the intended effect, or will the island get blown to smithereens?

Are we really going to get to see Jacob? And if so, will Locke really try to kill him?

Who the heck is this guy trying to pass himself off as Locke? And what would be the point of trying to kill Jacob?

Are Sawyer, Juliet, and Kate all really going to leave the island? If not, what are they going to do, make the sub do a u-turn?

How psyched are you for the finale? Remember, this is going to be the last ever LOST cliffhanger, so I’m sure they’re going to pull out all of the stops…

Happy LOST day everyone! With only 2 episodes remaining this season, it’s time to savor every last minute of the show. A week from now, we’ll be mourning the fact that we won’t have any new LOST for a full 8 months! The good thing though, is that I’m really excited about this season’s last 3 hours, much more so than I was as we approached the end of last season. We’ve got what appears to be at least 3 different story threads that promise to come to a head in the finale, and I have a feeling we’re going to see some exciting twists and turns as well.

Of course, before we get to the finale, we’ve got tonight’s installment, which according to the TV listing, promises to return to the adventures of Locke and gang, who we last saw under the Temple. And, there are also some rumors swirling around that this episode may actually be Richard-centric, which would be an amazing treat. But where does all of that put us in terms of a challenge for this week? Actually, coming up with the challenge could be the challenge itself, but that’s a bit of a cop out. So instead, we’ll go with the following:

How does Locke prove himself to be the new leader of the Others, and what is his first “command decision” as their leader?